The first time I saw it, no one believed me. Not even my mother. Not even my twin brother, who could tell when I was making something up. We hadn't really seen anything completely crazy in our lives, at least not yet anyways, and I guess the story was just too far-fetched. But I know what I saw.
The museum was having a dance party. In the middle of the night. I could hear the music pumping, could see the lights dancing out of the front windows. As I watched, enchanted, I saw the skeleton of a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex pass in front of the window, ridden by a young boy. I pressed my face and hands to the glass of the window and stared until the taxi we were riding in turned a corner.
When I told my mom, she said that was the last time we went with her on a business trip. (She wasn't serious.) Eoin, my brother, said my mind had retired to Tahiti.
But I know what I saw.
That was ten years ago.
That story seemed crazy now, when I found myself in New York City again, this time alone. I stood on the steps of the Museum of Natural History, staring up at the darkened windows. It was after 7, and that particular street block was empty, and eerily quiet. I could see the shape of the T-rex's skeleton standing still on its pedestal.
As I was standing there, wondering if I really had been crazy all those years ago, the sound of footsteps pounding the sidewalk startled me out of my reverie. I turned to find two teens about my age running towards me. They stopped at the foot of the museum's steps, panting from exertion. One was a girl, with shoulder-length blonde hair and a streak of what looked like turquoise framing one side of her face. Her companion was a boy of a darker skin type, with dark, curly brown hair.
"Are you sure, Sadie?" the boy asked when he had regained his breath.
"Yes, brother dear. Why else would I pull you from dinner?" She had a soft brogue, maybe British. "This magic is off the charts, and it's…strange."
The boy stepped closer and lowered his voice, so that I couldn't make out what he said. Thinking they probably hadn't seen me yet, I dove into the shadow of the statue of Teddy Roosevelt, out of the revealing light of the streetlamp. Edging against the statue's base, I snuck closer, straining my ears to hear their conversation.
The girl was talking. "Carter, if it's them, why haven't they contacted us, hm? Magic this strong…they should be here, investigating."
"Maybe they think it's too dangerous," the boy, Carter, tried.
The girl, Sadie, cocked a hip, moving one hand to rest there. "Do you really think that would keep people like Percy and Annabeth away?"
"Not likely," said a new voice, before Carter had a chance to answer. I whirled, stifling a startled gasp. I hadn't even heard them approaching, but now another blonde girl and a tall, dark haired boy stepped out of the shadows on my side of the statue. I shrank against the statue's base, hoping they hadn't spotted my sudden movement.
The boy spoke. "As a matter of fact, it actually attracts us."
Carter grinned like he'd just seen an old friend. "Percy Jackson. Should have known you'd turn up. And is this the girlfriend I've heard so much about?" He stepped up, extending a hand to the blonde girl for a handshake.
"Annabeth," she said, smiling and shaking Carter's hand. "Just what has he been telling you?"
Sadie stepped up. "Probably how fantastically brilliant you are."
Percy grinned sideways. "Yeah, something like that."
"Hey!" Carter shouted suddenly, pointing in my direction. I froze.
"What are you doing there?" Annabeth demanded. "How long have you been there? Are you spying on us?"
There was no point in hiding now. I stepped reluctantly out of the safety of the shadows, palms up. "I'm sorry. I was already here when they showed up." I gestured at Carter and Sadie. "I wanted to see what they were talking about. I thought maybe I could help."
"From the shadows?" Sadie asked.
"I…was gonna come out eventually." I stared at the crack in the sidewalk, ashamed.
There was an uncomfortable silence. Then Annabeth said, "Does anyone else hear that noise?"
We listened intently. Sure enough, a strange noise was filling the night. It was a grating, wheezing sound, like metal on metal. I gritted my teeth.
Suddenly, a hole opened in the sky. I know that sounds crazy, but I can't think of a better way to describe how it looked. The smog polluted night sky above the museum opened up, and a blue box dropped out of it.
Percy just had time to shout, "What in Hades?!"
And then the box was falling towards us, spiraling like a top, still making an awful cacophony.
We dove out of the way, shouting, but the box didn't fall there. It pulled up, just short of hitting the tip of Roosevelt's sword. Spinning wildly, it zoomed to crash against the museum wall, bouncing off and coming to land smack dab in the middle of the street, smoking. The metal noise ceased. The five of us stood close together, gaping in shock. Then a door on the side of the box creaked open, and two figures tumbled out, coughing. A dark haired girl, maybe in her twenties, doubled over. She was followed by a man wearing a bright red fez, waving his coat at the smoke. "What's going on, old girl?" he cried as the smoke began to disperse.
"Doctor, what was that about?" the girl panted, in a strong British accent.
"I don't know," the man responded, then turned, seeming to notice his surroundings for the first time. His gaze landed on the five of us. "Excuse me," he said politely, as if meeting someone on a casual street corner. "Can you tell me where we are?" He had an accent as well.
Carter released his hold on Percy's arm. I could see where his fingers had left marks on his skin, but Percy didn't seem to notice. Taking a cautious step towards the pair, Carter cleared his throat. "Um, you're in Manhattan."
The man stared at him. "No." He spun in a circle, obviously flustered. "No, no, no, no, no. This is wrong."
"What is it?" The girl with him wrinkled her eyebrows.
"This isn't right. I'm not even supposed to be here." He stopped in front of her, staring down into her eyes, his eyebrows wrinkled together.
The girl cocked her head at him. "Never stopped you before."
His arms came up in front of his chest, hands reaching towards the girl. He shook them for emphasis. "No, no. You're not getting it."
Annabeth shot Percy a confused look as the girl asked, "Not getting what, Doctor? You're not making sense again."
"Well basically, there's a bit of timey-wimey stuff that happened." He strode away from her, then back, pacing, wringing his hands. "It was so mixed up that the TARDIS just gave up on trying to get back here. But that's not it. The thing that happened, it messed up a few time streams, completely screwed up the space-time continuum. No time travel is supposed to happen here. So the question is, Clara, what are we doing here?" He paused in front of her and waited for a reply.
Sadie and Carter exchanged puzzled looks. Percy mouthed Space-time continuum? Annabeth shrugged, perplexed. Carter stepped forward again. "Maybe we'd better move this to a safer place."
The man called the Doctor and Clara turned towards us at the same time.
"We might be able to help you, but not out here." Carter continued.
The Doctor folded his arms. "Well then, where did you have in mind?"